Imagined and developed with artist Emilie Monnet, Gibideweshinimin: We are heard walkinghere proposes a reflection on coexistence process by taking the the Great Peace of Montreal of 1701, which was signed by thirty-one First Nations (many of whom traveled great distances for the event) and the French settlers, as a point of departure.

Gibideweshinimin is a word in Anishinaabemowin, kindly translated by Wilfred Abigosis.

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During eight months, we delved in a research-creation process with students from the high school École Louis Joseph Papineau. We established that listening is an essential aspect of coexistence and started to practice deep listening by reviewing how history is depicted with a critical analysis. Whose stories are being told by the museums and schools? How is our collective memory impacted by the silences or omissions that are perpetuated by the mainstream education system? How do these silences impact our relationship to the land and to each other? What form of coexistence are we living today if Indigenous languages, perspectives and histories are not accessible through the education system?

This project was supported by Oboro and Onishka and made possible with generous financial support from Libres comme l’art, a program for professional artists of creation residencies in schools, funded by the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM), the Conférence régionale des élus de Montréal (CRÉ) and the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport.